Hurrah! Finally got out for a run this evening, but it was a close thing:
I woke up feeling particularly lethargic and unmotivated, so a morning run was not going to happen. I slobbed around til lunch-time but then slapped myself out of my complacency and... went for a paddle in the kayak
. Well in fact it had been my intention to do both some cross training and a run, so this wasn't really a problem.
Actually, the paddle nearly didn't happen either. Today being
Australia Day, everyone descended on my preferred place of paddling for a family BBQ/picnic and the place was a log-jam of happy families. It looked like I wouldn't be able to park anywhere near the boat ramp where I launch the kayak, but luckily someone left just as I was seriously contemplating abandoning the idea. Then there were a crowd of other boats at the launch ramp, and a crowd of onlookers - as always happens when there's a crowd I managed to fall out of the blasted kayak as soon as I hopped in, but pretty soon I and my damaged pride were in, the Garmin GPS fired up and I was off. It was a very pleasant, but hard and fast (for me) 10km paddle and I was pleased with my improvement, despite the last two weeks
sans exercise.
I was all set for a cold beer in front of the telly watching a bit of the Australia -v- South Africa one day cricket, and had stopped off at the bottle shop (liquor store/wine merchant/whatever you call it in your part of the planet) when my phone rang. It was the furniture removalists: they had been supposed to deliver a truck load of stuff Friday or Saturday, but hadn't turned up. There's no way I expected them to deliver on a public holiday, but here they were, waiting outside my new residence (not yet moved in).... so, quick trip home, pop the beer in fridge, grab the keys to the new place and rush down there, still salt and sweat-drenched from the kayaking. Two hours later, with aching back and whingeing knees (this was a budget mob where you have to help with the loading/unloading!) I finally got to drive home again for that beer. At least I have the tready back again! Ah, bliss!
It was whilst unloading said removalists truck that the rain set in. By the evening it was a steady soaking rain. My aching back, the soaking rain, blisters between my toes (oddly enough from the kayaking), and a festering cut on the sole of my foot (at exactly the point the orthotics rub slightly), plus a couple of Australia Day beers in my belly weren't conducive to getting me off the couch and out there for my run.
But... I did it anyway
. I wore my new sleeveless running rain jacket that I bought months ago and haven't used yet (which worked a treat) and headed out into the night. I cut the run short - I had planned 8km but just did 5km, but I did it comfortably and reasonably quickly (for me, again at least), so I'm well pleased.
It was important to get this run done. After a two week lay-off my training campaign has been cut dangerously short and I needed a good run to get my confidence back. It was only a shorty, but to see that I haven't lost too much fitness was important. The cross-training has definitely been paying dividends.
Still a lot of road to cover over the next few weeks however.
Gulp.
Two pics - one of my new cross-training toy, and me post-run a short while ago.
Here we go again.
